The Somnum Tradition
by Deidara9898
Summary: Josephine Johnson was a 21 year old high school graduate who had a normal life. She had her small circle of friends, nice family and home, and she was quite attractive. They were the closest bunch you could ever meet. And then y'know, the usual happens: they get thrown into a alternate dimension to fight off zombies. Perfectly normal, right..? Right...?
1. Chapter 1: Ain't Nobody Tryna Play Grief

_A nice Author's Note that **you should read.**_

Hi there! So, I finished this story back in mid-2018. I wanted to finish editing and post it but my anxiety was like, _no one is going to like this. _So I didn't. But now I'm feeling a bit more confident so I've decided to post it. I don't own anything of The Walking Dead or any songs used in this story. I only own my original plot and OCs. I apologize in advance for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy this story. Have a nice day :).

**_WARNING: _**this story contains Gore, violence, mature themes, and crude language.

But enjoy :)

* * *

"Ain't nobody tryna play grief. That shit's trash!" Josephine told to her friends, selecting 'Tranzit' for them to play.

"Oh come on Josey! Nobody likes Tranzit! You are the only one." One of her friends, Clarissa, responded.

"Besides, we don't even want to play." Her other friend, Bethany, added.

"Ugh, alright fine." Josey sighed, closing out the game and setting her controller beside her.

Josey was currently at home, chilling with her group of friends: Bethany, Clarissa, Caitlyn, Skye, and Jackie. It was 4:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday and they had nothing to do. They had slept over the previous night. "Hey, why don't we just watch The Walking Dead till it's late then we can tell 'scary stories'?" The girls shared a laughed whilst Josephine rolled her eyes.

"Sure why not? I'll go get some nachos." Josey said, standing up from the bed and bouncing her way downstairs. Josey hummed to herself as she made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed a metal tray, then a bowl. She went into the cabinets, beginning to sing aloud the song she was previously humming. "Rolling in the deep, you had my heart inside of your hands! And you played it to the beat!" She pulled out two smaller bowls, filling them with nacho cheese and salsa sauce. She hummed her way back upstairs, careful not to drop the tray. She opened up the door to see her friends setting up the room for their binge watching. She sat down at the top of the bed beside her girlfriend, Jackie. She placed the tray in the middle of the bed so that all friends could reach it.

"What episode are y'all on?"

"We're all on the beginning of season seven. We know everything that happens; we've just never seen it." Caitlyn spoke in a low voice.

"So we're starting on season seven." Josey spoke, starting the first episode of season seven.

The girls watched the episodes in silence, other than a few rare comments. That's when Clarissa made the comment, "Damn. Imagine what it would be like to be in this place, in a zombie apocalypse."

"How about no; I would not like to imagine what it would be like to be in a zombie apocalypse because I don't want to die!" Skye exclaimed, earning a chorus of laughter from the girls. "No but seriously, I like my life I would not like to die in a zombie apocalypse." The girls fell silent, continuing to watch the episode. However when Bethany went to reach for a chip she felt the bowl was empty.

"Bowl's empty. Who's on refill duty?" She asked. Josey stopped the episode and the girls looked between each other.

"Why don't we just order a pizza instead?" Jackie suggested.

"Sure but I'm not going to be the only one going," Josey said, standing up from the bed.

"What do you mean? Can't we just order in?" Skye asked. Josey shook her head, going into her closet.

"Nah, the closest place doesn't do delivery." The girls got up as Caitlyn shook her head.

"What kind of pizza place doesn't do delivery?" The girls then began changing into clothes that they could travel outside in.

Bethany had pulled on a burgundy button up blouse along with a pair of plain black skinny jeans. She pulled on a pair of black converses. Jackie changed into a black t-shirt and a black sweater going over it. She pulled on a pair of plain black jeans. She also had a pair of black converses. Caitlyn pulled on a black hoodie, with no shirt under it and a pair of blue jeans. She went into her bag and pulled out a black beanie, pulling that on as well over her black hair. She then completed the outfit with a pair of converses. Skye pulled on a blue shirt, with a pair of black jeans that had rips at the knees. She finished up by pulling on a pair of converses. Clarissa had changed into a light gray tank top with a black and white plaid button up hoodie. She pulled her ring necklace from under her button-up. She also changed into a pair of dark gray jeans that had rips at the knees. She topped it all off by pulling on a pair of converses.

Last but not least, Josephine pulled on a black denim vest with a plain black tank top. She then changed into a pair of normal black jeans. She grabbed a silver chain for her desk and attached it to the front belt loops of her pants. She finished it off by pulling on her converses. The girls stood at the room door and looked at each other's outfits. Though they all noticed that they were _all _wearing Converses, they said nothing and headed out the door. Before Josey left, she grabbed a ten dollar bill from the dresser, then followed after the girls. They all left the house with Josey locking the door behind them.

"So let's say we were in a zombie apocalypse," Clarissa started to say and all the girls groaned. Clarissa only laughed at them. "Let's say all of us were a group in the zombie apocalypse. Who do you think would die first?"

"Caitlyn," Jackie spoke up first. Caitlyn put on an offended face as the others laughed. "I'm sorry but I don't think you would do what needs to be done. So I think that would cost you your life." She finished, moving her hair out of her face. The girls approached the pizza shop, speaking more on the topic.

"If anyone were to make it all the way till they found a cure, I think it would definitely be Josey." Bethany said and all girls nodded their head. "'Because she would actually do what needs to be done; she doesn't exactly care what others say."

"That's not true," Josey protested as they entered the pizza shop. "I care what you guys say!"

"Well yeah but we're your friends and well, girlfriend." Caitlyn spoke, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Exactly, and if I'm traveling with you guys that would mean I would have to consult with you guys too." She spoke before turning to the guy behind the counter. "Hi, one large pie please." She turned back to her friends as the dude began to get their pie. "Besides it'll never happen."

"Yeah and if it does; what's the worst that could happen?" Skye said, shrugging her shoulders. All eyes turned to her with a glare. "What?"

"Skye, when someone says 'what's the worst that could happen', the worst normally happens!" Jackie exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Oh come on! Are you kidding me; a zombie apocalypse, really? That'll never happen. It's not possible."

"That may be true but it would be a bit satisfying to know what it would be life to be in a zombie apocalypse." Josey said, shrugging her shoulders. "But that's just me." She added, turning back around to face the dude at the counter. She handed him the ten dollar bill, saying a quick thanks before heading off with her friends. They walked down the sidewalk, discussing further into the zombie apocalypse topic. What their weapon of choice would be, who they'd side with, and things along those lines.

The girls soon fell quiet, discussing all that could be discussed between them. "I can't wait to finish that episode!" Jackie exclaimed, putting a slight bounce in her step.

All the girls felt the same way. However, their plans were soon cut short when a black cargo van pulled up to a screech beside the girls. Before the girls could react, six men jumped out of the vehicle, each going after one girl. They all wore black bandannas and black clothing. They each grabbed a girl, putting one hand over their mouth and one around their waist to pull them into the van. However Josephine was not giving up without a fight. Josephine dropped the pizza and elbowed the man who grabbed her in the stomach. He loosened his grip around her and she stepped forward.

"Motherfucker," The kidnapper exclaimed!

She turned around and kicked the man in the stomach. However before she could attack him again, one of the other men came out and punched her straight in the jaw, rendering her unconscious. The girls stayed unconscious, unbeknownst of what was going on. They could see weird lights and hear faint talking. Then it all fell black.

* * *

The next thing the girls knew they were falling out of air. They let out a scream as they fell before hitting the hard road. The girls groaned in pain as they tried to sit up. "What the actual fuck?" Josey mumbled, rubbing her head as she sat up. The rest of the girls rose before her. Jackie came over and helped her girlfriend off the ground. Josephine dusted herself off and looked around but didn't turn around. "Where, in the fuck, are we?" She asked the group, pushing her hair out of her face.

However the girls did not respond but merely stared at her. Actually, they were staring behind her. "Josephine." Jackie said, "Turn around." Josey's curiosity peaked and she turned herself around. Josey wasn't prepared for what stood in front of her; better yet, who.

"What the actual fuck?" Was all Josey could mumble as she stared at the group who stood before her.

"Well Clarissa," Caitlyn spoke up. "You got what you wanted." Standing before the girls, was Rick Grimes and his family.


	2. Chapter 2: What The Actual Fuck?

All weapons that the group had in their hands went up, trained at the girls. Though they were wildly confused and a tad bit terrified of what they just witnessed, they stayed cautious. "Josey say something," Skye said, nudging her friend with her elbow.

"Me?" Josey said in disbelief. "Wait a second, were you not the one who said: what is worst that could happen?!" She exclaimed, turning to her.

"I didn't think it would actually happen! I mean, this is just impossible." Skye argued.

"Finish your argument later. We have bigger problems!" Jackie said, breaking the two apart and pointing towards the group who had guns trained on them. Josey sighed and turned back to the group. She stepped forward, holding her hands up. No one was quite sure of what to say, it was a very awkward situation.

"Look we don't mean harm. We're just going to go on our way." She told the group, taking a step back.

"Don't move," said the man holding the crossbow or as the girls knew him, Daryl Dixon. "'Less you wanna get shot between the eyes."

The group of girls froze. "Now I don't know how else to say this, but what the hell just happened?" asked Rick, stepping forward.

"Hey I'm going to be completely honest with you, we don't know either!" Josey told him, bringing her hands to her sides.

"Which one of you is the leader of this group?" Rick asked her. Josephine glanced back at her group, unsure of what to say. All eyes stayed on her, meaning that she was now nominated as leader. She sighed, turning around.

"I am." She responded.

"I'm going to trust you for now." He said, stepping up in front of her. "Where did you come from?" He asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure how to say this, so I'm just going to say it..." She took a deep breath, knowing she was going to get a strange reaction. "I guess you could say another world." Rick stared at her in disbelief. "You're going to say its impossible right?" All Rick had to do was nod his head. "And yet here we are in a world where the undead and up and walking about. Look all I'm asking is that you let us go on our way." Rick thought for a second, glancing back at the group of girls behind Josephine.

"Do any of you have any supplies, weapons, any place to stay the night?" Josey shook her head.

"No. In case you haven't noticed we all just got dropped onto our asses out of nowhere."

"Yeah I don't think anyone missed that."

"You might want to speed this up!" Daryl called from behind Rick. The group of girls and Rick turned to Daryl to see him shooting a walker in the head and the others trying to fend off walkers as well.

"How about you guys come with us? We'll help you out till you can get back on your feet."

"You're sure about this?" Josey asked, her eyes glancing at Rick's group. He nodded his head as a yelp sounded from Josey's group. Josey turned around to see a walker trying to grab Caitlyn. Caitlyn was cowering in fear, walking backwards. Josephine's eyes widened but she reacted quickly. She looked at her surroundings.

She ran to the left, grabbing a thick branch from the ground. She struggled slightly since it was pretty heavy. But the adrenaline kept her going. She had to save her friend. She ran to Caitlyn, pushing her back. The walker tried to grab Josephine but she stepped back a bit of distance. She pulled the branch back with both hands before swinging it forward, taking the walkers head clean off. The body fell to the ground but its head was still growling and chomping its teeth. Josey stepped forward and brought the branch down on its head. She dropped the branch and took a few steps back. Josey and her friends felt their nachos coming up. A smashed and decayed head in person isn't the best sight. Most of the group held it in but Caitlyn and Bethany didn't. They bent over, throwing up the nachos with a mix of the cheese and salsa sauce.

Josey turned to Rick and the others to see they were finishing off the walkers. As they did so, Josey took the chance to look around. She noticed that there were no camera's around or anything. So it's not a prank of any type. Then again how much trouble do you have to go through to get the entire cast and then walkers and everything else just to pull a prank? It didn't seem right. The only conclusion that Josephine could come up with was that this was real.

Rick came back over to Josey. "We need to go, now; you coming or what?" He asked.

"Yeah, girls come on!" Josey called to the girls. The group of girls came to Josey. "We're going to go with them. They're going to help us out while we try and figure out what the fuck is going on."

"How are you not freaked out?" Bethany asked, wiping her mouth.

"Are you kidding me?" Josey shook her head, "I am freaking out but I'm trying not to die. Let's go." With that being said, she turned around and headed to Rick's cars.

"Now you all can't fit in one car, we're going to have to split you up." Rick told Josey. Josey nodded her head. "I'll ride with three of you but the other three have to ride with Daryl."

Josey looked back at her group. "Me, Caitlyn and Jackie, we'll ride with you." Rick nodded his head.

"And your name is?" He asked.

"Josephine Johnson."

"Rick Grimes." He told her, holding out his hand. Though they all already knew their names, she nodded her head and shook his hand. "Let's get going. Daryl, three of the girls are going to ride with you." Daryl didn't seem to agree at first but Rick seemed to talk him into it. Josephine got into the passenger's seat of Rick's car while Caitlyn and Jackie got into the back. On the drive back to Rick's home, Rick tried to make sense of what was going on.

"So you're telling me that you're from an alternate world?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, we were on our way home from getting pizza and then we got kidnapped. Next thing we knew we're falling out of thin air here." Rick nodded his head, keeping his eyes on the road.

"And you can't think of any logical explanation?" He asked.

"Is there really a logical explanation for dimension traveling?" She asked, turning to him. He looked to her but only for a moment before turning back to the road.

"What're their names?" Rick asked, his eyes looking into the mirror but only for a second.

"Oh uhm, that's Caitlyn, the one with the black hair. Then my girlfriend, Jackie."

"And the other three are?"

"Purple hair is Clarissa. Blonde is Bethany. And brownish is Skye." He gave a nod of his head before going quiet. Josephine looked out the window and watched the trees go by.

"So I take it you've never handled a weapon before?" Josephine shook her head.

"Unfortunately no, we haven't." Rick gave a nod of his head.

"I'd give you some gun training but we don't have the ammo to spare." Rick told her, shaking his head. Josephine wasn't too worried about guns.

"That's fine. I think I can train them in bashing in walker heads with a really thick branch." She said, chuckling softly.

"So when do we go back home?" Caitlyn asked her voice quiet and soft as ever. Caitlyn wasn't really good when it came to meeting new people or anything really. She had really bad anxiety. Josephine glanced back at her.

"As soon as we can figure out how we got here. That's our main goal, how and why we're here?" The group in the car fell silent and went deep into their thoughts. Josephine sat and tried to remember certain episodes. The only problem with trying to figure out what episode they're in is that everything's going to be different because they're here. She wasn't sure how to feel but she will admit it was satisfying to find out what it's like in a zombie apocalypse. That's when a terrifying thought struck.

_ 'Have they met Negan yet?'_


	3. Chapter 3: Feel No Pain

The rest of the drive back to Rick's home, also known to the girls as Alexandria, was quiet. That was until the group got out of their cars and stood within the walls of Alexandria. Rick approached the six girls. "Alright there's one room left in my home. You girls okay with sharing?" The girls looked between each other but nodded.

"You trust us that much to let us into your home?" Clarissa asked and was a bit surprised seeing as how in the show, Rick had some major trust issues.

"Well there ain't much you can do with no weapons and no idea where you are." Daryl spoke, standing beside Rick. The girls contained their smile. They knew exactly where they were. Only question was, how did they get there?

"Follow me." Rick said, walking off with Daryl. The girls followed after the two, getting strange looks from the other residents within Alexandria. A woman approached the girls and hey recognized her immediately as Michonne.

"Who're they?" She asked as she stood in front of Rick.

"That's a bit of story." Rick told her, going past her and going into the house. If there was one thing the girls thought they'd never do, it was stepping foot into Rick's home in Alexandria.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Skye asked, walking beside Josey. Josey shook her head

"No guys, I don't! I know as much as you do which is nothing." She said, facing her group. "Rick is allowing us to stay here until we figure out what is going on. After that, we're on our own."

"They're going to send us on our own out there?!" Caitlyn asked, fear evident in her eyes. "I don't want to die yet..." She muttered, crossing her arms and looking down. Josey walked in front of her and put her hands on Caitlyn's shoulders.

"Caitlyn, you are not going to die. I won't let you, alright?" Caitlyn nodded her head, blinking away her tears. Josephine had become an expert in calming Caitlyn down by now. Her anxiety attacks and panic attacks were a thing that happened often so Josephine had gotten the job of calming her down. Josephine turned back to Rick. Rick sat down at the table and Josephine sat beside him, Caitlyn, Bethany, Jackie and Clarissa taking the last four seats, leaving Skye to stand.

"You said you were kidnapped before you got here." Rick said, leaning one arm on the table. "Did you see who it was?" Josey shook her head.

"No they were wearing bandannas." She said, thinking back to what happened. She noticed something. She rubbed her jaw. "That's strange."

"What is it?" Jackie asked.

"When we got kidnapped, I tried to fight back but got punched in the jaw. But nothing hurts." The group fell silent.

"Okay uh, what if," The girls turned to Clarissa. They knew if she started a sentence with 'let's say' or 'what if', she was about to say something crazy or impossible. "What if the guys who kidnapped us…What if they did something, gave us something that brought us here? We're all in perfect condition. None of us know how long we were out yet we're all perfectly hydrated." The girls and guys fell silent.

"Y'know I thought you were going to say something really dumb." Skye said, "And then you said something really, really dumb. What you just said is impossible."

"Stop saying it's impossible. Look around. It's obviously happening." Josey countered, shaking her head at the girls.

"Rick," Daryl called, gesturing for him to come over. Rick stood and went over to Daryl.

The girls sat in silence. Josey didn't want to admit it but what Clarissa said finally made the most sense out of everything that was happening. What else could it possibly be? Josephine thought it was like they were all in a coma, sharing the same coma dream. She had written stories about this but she never expected it to happen to her. Josephine's train thought broke when she began trying to listen in on Daryl's, Michonne's and Rick's conversation. "And what about when Negan shows up?" Michonne whispered. So they did meet Negan which means Glenn and Abraham are no more. Josephine frowned.

"Hey, what is it?" Clarissa asked, leaning her butt against the table beside Josephine.

"What you said... As much as I hate to admit it, it makes sense. It's not logical but it's the only explanation." She said, holding her chin in her hand. She then ran her fingered through her hair and sighed. "Alright girls," She said, standing up and standing on the opposite side of Clarissa. "We've pretty much figured out the only way we could've gotten here. Now we need to focus on why."

"Maybe we're supposed to help them somehow." Bethany suggested.

"Or this is punishment for something we've done." Caitlyn countered, lowering her head. Josephine frowned, putting her hand on Caitlyn's shoulder.

"It's not. Bethany's right. Either we're supposed to help them somehow or they're supposed to help us." Josephine concluded, putting her hands in her back pockets. Rick, Daryl, and Michonne came over to the girls. The girls turned to them.

"Alright, we're going to let you stay here while we try and figure this out." Rick told them. "Now you are going have to help around. What are you guys good with?"

"What is it you need help with?" Jackie asked. The three glanced at each other.

"You six seem to communicate pretty well. You might be good to go on a supply run." Josephine nodded her head, glancing at the girls.

"I'm good with that; except Caitlyn is going have to stay back. Someone has to stay with her." She said, mostly to the girls than to the other three. Caitlyn said nothing but kept her eyes on the floor.

"I'll stay." Skye said. Josephine looked to her. She knew the only reason she said she'd stay was so that she wouldn't have to go outside the gates, where the walkers were. But Josephine reluctantly nodded.

"Alright then, I guess the four of us will go."

"Five. Michonne will be coming with you." Michonne and Josephine locked eyes, both giving a nod of the head.

"Alright, we'll follow you." Josephine said. Michonne said nothing but just walked away. Clarissa, Jackie, and Bethany followed after Michonne but Josephine hung back for a moment. She turned to Caitlyn.

"You'll be fine. And don't worry about us. I promise we'll come back." She said, ruffling around Caitlyn's hair. She gave Skye a reassuring smile before walking after the girls. Though Josephine told Caitlyn they would be fine, she was having her own doubts. She mainly worried about Bethany in this group going out. Clarissa, Jackie and herself would do what needs to be done. However Bethany is a bit like Caitlyn. She gets scared easily. So facing a walker was going too hard on her. Josephine sighed, running a hand through her hair. _This could go smoothly and we'll be fine,_ Josephine thought. _Or we'll all die. _


	4. Chapter 4: Not Enough

The girls were only given knives to defend themselves since the Alexandrian's couldn't spare any ammo or guns. The girls understood and followed Michonne into an RV. Michonne wanted Josephine up in the front with her, so Josephine complied. The other girls sat in the back.

"What do you think is going on?" Michonne asked her. Josephine was surprised she even talked to her.

"Oh uhm, the girls and I had concluded that whoever kidnapped us put us into a coma of some type. It's the only thing we could think of." Michonne didn't respond and she drove out and turned the RV around, driving straight down the road.

"Any of you killed a walker before?" Michonne asked the girls.

"I have, saved Caitlyn's life." She told her. "But the others haven't." Michonne nodded her head, leaving it at that.

Most of the ride was quiet with the occasional questions from the girls in the back to Josephine. However Josephine was in her own mind. She was trying to think of reasons that they would be there. Was this just some sick twisted game in somebody's mind? Were they actually meant to help them? Josephine couldn't really stick to one idea; her brain was jumping back and forth.

But it calmed down when she noticed Michonne was parking the RV. "We're going to search this town. Be on high alert and don't stray." Michonne warned them, hopping out of the RV with a bag. The girls followed after Michonne, their knives in their hands and Clarissa carrying a bag as well. Josephine could practically hear Bethany's teeth chattering. But she understood, even her own hands were shaking. When she saved Caitlyn before that was a spur of the moment to save someone she cared deeply about. She figured it shouldn't be too hard to do it again since it's her life on the line this time. They followed Michonne into a bar. Michonne had her Katana in her hand. Josephine was the second to go in after Michonne. A walker's growl was heard right beside Michonne. Before Josephine could react, its head was on the floor with the Katana through it. "Be cautious." She told the girls.

The girls split up throughout the bar, searching every nook and cranny. Josephine went off with Michonne while the other girls stayed in the other room. Josephine found a door and put her hand on the knob. She looked to Michonne and she nodded her head. She waited three seconds before opening the door. Michonne walked forward, ready to kill whatever was behind the door. But there was nothing. The room was dark but it was also very quiet. Michonne went into the bag and pulled out a flashlight. She handed it to Josephine. Josephine took it and went in after Michonne, being her light. The room was small and once Josephine got a good look at what was inside, a smile cracked on her lips. "Isn't this quite a find, no?" She asked, turning to Michonne. Michonne looked to her.

"We still need more." _More?_ Josephine questioned in her head.

"How much more do we need?" She asked as Michonne walked forward.

"A lot," was all Michonne said. Josephine nodded her head. It's probably all for Negan. Josephine frowned to herself as Michonne began packing the bag. The girls had found some canned beef, canned corn, bunch of canned foods. Then there was water and even booze. It wasn't a lot to Michonne but it was to Josephine. Josephine never had really had to ration out food before.

Michonne finished packing it up and the two girls went back into the room where the rest of the group was. The girls were standing by the door, Clarissa still holding the bag on her shoulder. "Did you find anything?" They all shook their head.

"There was some cash in a safe we found but that's not worth anything now, is it?" Clarissa told her. Josephine sighed, shaking her head. "What about you?"

"Yeah we found food, water, beer." She said, giving a smile to Jackie. Jackie smiled but it wasn't a strong and honest smile.

"Let's get going." Michonne said, walking past them and heading out the bar.

The group of girls searched the entire town, finding a bit more but not enough, as Michonne said. Josephine actually killed two more walkers and surprisingly Bethany killed one. Granted she almost threw up twice afterwards but she did it. Jackie and Clarissa have yet to kill anything, and they were honestly glad about that.

They all got back into the RV and they headed out, driving back down a dirt road. Josephine stared out the window for most of the ride. She wondered what it would be like to meet Negan. Even though she would be terrified - considering the fact that he killed Glenn and Abraham without a single bat of the eye - (pun very intended), she would be pissed as well. He's a horrible person. But she also has to remember that he's just a character. She liked the character when she's watching him behind a screen but when you meet him in person, when he's not a character; it scared her half to death.

But she had to stay strong and put on a strong face even if it meant her life. If there was one thing that was going to happen while she was here, it was going to be that she will protect her friends, no matter what. She was not going to let them die here.

They had been driving for quite some time and they still hadn't found anything more than what they found in the first town. So Michonne decided it was time to head back. She turned the car around and began heading back. It didn't take them too long to get back to Alexandria considering they weren't stopping for anything. They pulled into Alexandria and Michonne got out the RV. The girls followed suit. Rick and Daryl greeted the group.

"Is everything alright?" Rick asked Josephine. Josephine nodded her head.

"Well no one's bit or scratched so I guess that's good enough. We found some stuff but according to Michonne, it wasn't enough." She told him. He looked to Michonne, a frown on his face.

"They're not dead," was all she said before walking away from the group of girls.

"Are Caitlyn and Skye alright?" Josephine asked. Rick nodded his head.

"Yeah they're fine. Thanks for the help." Josephine nodded her head.

"Happy to help, we're gonna go back up to the house, try to think of, figure out what the hell is going on." He nodded his head and walked past Josephine, patting her shoulder as he did so. Josephine led the girls up to the house, going up to the room they were supposed to be sharing. She walked inside to see Caitlyn sitting at the head of the bed, rocking back and forth but once the two girls heard the door open, their heads perched up.

"Oh thank god!" Caitlyn sighed in relief, running a hand through her hair. Josephine gave her a smile before turning to Skye.

"I told you we'd be back." She sat down on the bed beside Caitlyn. The other girls gathered around, finding a spot on the bed to sit. "Alright we need to think of all the possible reasons that we're here. Clarissa, is there any crazy theory going through your head right now?" Josephine asked. Clarissa thought for a second before remembering a story Josephine told her about. She looked to Josey.

"What if..." She paused, "What if you are immune?"


	5. Chapter 5: An Emergency

The girls fell silent as Clarissa tried to explain it. "Okay think about it this way," She said, standing up from the bed, beginning to pace back and forth. "You said that it would be impossible for us to be here." She said, turning to Skye. "Yet we're in a zombie apocalypse. So why would it be impossible for Josephine to be immune, to be a cure?" The girls pondered on that before Josey spoke up.

"Okay I see what you're saying but why me?"

"Well there are two reasons I could think of." Bethany said, all eyes turning to her. "One is because you wrote a story of this: the group who gets sent to the zombie apocalypse and then one's immune and the cure."

"And the second is?" Jackie asked.

"Well that links to the first reason." Clarissa said. Surprisingly, Caitlyn's the one who finished it off.

"Because she's the leader, which means she's the main character." Josephine thought on that.

"Wait you said that I'm the main character," she said, thinking for a moment. "And you said it's like my story. But like any story, the character suffers a tragic loss." The girls fell silent.

"So now we have a new question," Bethany said.

"Who's the tragic loss?" Skye finished. The girls fell silent. None of them wanted to lose anyone from the group. But as Josephine was thinking she remembered something that Jackie said. Turns out Skye remembered too because she said,

"Oh shit." The girls turned to Skye. "I think I know who it is." She then turned to Caitlyn. "Jackie had said that you would be the first to go." Caitlyn shook her head violently. Josephine put a hand on her shoulder.

"No!" Josephine exclaimed. She turned to Skye and gave her a life threatening glare. "None of us are going to die. I am going to make sure that doesn't happen!" However Josephine knew deep down, if they were right, someone was going to go.

The girls spent the rest of the day trying to convince each other, or moreover themselves that no one was going to die. Daryl had come up at a point to tell them to get some food. The girls told them that they weren't hungry. He didn't argue with them and just left it at that, leaving the room. It was now dark out and the girls needed their rest if they were going to be helping out around the place. Josephine had let the other girls take the bed while she stayed on the floor. Though her friends were sound asleep, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. The only other place she had slept in other than her own home was her friends' houses. Being here didn't feel right, at least not to her. Her mind stayed on that and stayed on the fact that someone was indeed going to die. By who's hand, she didn't know.

Josephine stood from the floor, careful not to make any sounds. She went downstairs to the very bottom of the steps before sitting down. She stared out at nothing, thinking deep about the situation they were in. Her train thought got cut off as footsteps approached her. They were very light though. "Can't sleep?" She looked up to see Daryl standing beside her on the other side of the railing. She shook her head.

"No. We came up with a conclusion that none of us are okay with." Daryl didn't respond immediately. He walked to the stairs and sat down beside her. She was surprised that he was even talking to her but sitting beside her? She was even more surprised she wasn't having a heart attack just being around him. She figured she had come to terms with her situation.

"Wanna share it?" Josephine fell silent and her eyes fell to the step under her feet.

"It's a bit of an explanation." Daryl just shrugged. "Alright uhm, basically the girls concluded that since I'm their leader, I'm the uh..." She chuckled softly in embarrassment, "The main character I guess you could say. And Clarissa came up with one of her theories that I'm immune, I'm the key to a cure." She just shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "But we also realized that in every story the 'main character' suffers a tragic loss. The other girls think it's going to be Caitlyn. But I'm going to make sure no one dies." She finished, letting out a breath. She turned to Daryl and their eyes met.

"Do you think you're the main character?" He asked her. She looked away, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to be but if I am..." She didn't finish her sentence, shaking her head. "I don't want to be because I don't want to let them down."

"From what I seen of you being' their leader," Daryl said, "I don't think you could." She turned her head to him as he stood up. "Try and get some sleep, aright?" She was a bit surprised when he patted her shoulder slightly. "Night."

"Night Daryl," She said as he headed upstairs.

Josephine stayed there for a little bit. She just stared into the dark, running her hands through her hair at random times when her thinking got to her. However she knew she had been down there too long when her leg began to shake. She was tired and she wanted to sleep. She sighed to herself, saying goodnight to the dark and her thoughts as she went upstairs. She went into the girls' room and closed the door softly behind her. She lay down on the floor across the room from the door, hidden behind the bed. She starred at the ceiling for a bit before forcing herself to go to sleep. She needed to be at her best, for them.

* * *

It's been about two weeks since the girls first got dropped on their ass in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Josephine and her friends were now a trusted group within the walls of Alexandria. She was one of the main people who were constantly going on runs. On one run with Daryl she had found a bunch of guns and ammo. So now she was the only one in her group who had a gun. She was right about Negan, the group had met him and Glenn and Abraham were no more.

The girls also helped out in the church. Josephine and Skye helped with the kids. They played with them, helped them with reading and writing, and even sang to them when they had time. The girls were all sitting on porch with Daryl. Josephine and Daryl hung around each other more often ever since their brief talk on the steps. He was always reassuring her when the stress and anxiety was getting to her and she mainly helped him out with runs.

Everything seemed to be going good for the day. That was until the gates rolled open. The girls and Daryl looked to the gate to see a truck roll in with two cars. "Is that..?" Caitlyn began to ask.

"Yeah, it is." Daryl answered, knowing what she was going to ask. Josephine knew this wasn't going to end well. Caitlyn's anxiety was too bad to meet Negan; she'd have a panic attack on the spot. Josephine stood up, dusting his jeans off and fixing her vest as she stepped down the steps. "Maybe it's best you all go in." Josephine shook her head but turned to the group.

"Skye, go in with Bethany and Caitlyn and do not leave that house no matter what."

"No." Caitlyn spoke up, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving you out here with that psychopath."

"Caitlyn, your anxiety," she pointed out, "You're going to have a panic attack." Caitlyn shook her head.

"I'll stay on the porch with Daryl. If that's okay," she said, turning to Daryl. Daryl looked to Josephine for a moment before nodding. "I'll be alright." She stayed on the porch steps with Daryl and Bethany as Jackie, Josephine, Skye, and Clarissa stood on the road. Josephine realized that even before they got there, the events that happened weren't the same as they were in the show. Negan never took Daryl. And everything else was even more different because they were there.

Josephine watched as Negan hopped out of the truck with Lucille in his hand. He walked down the road a bit before Rick stepped to him. They talked a bit and Josephine's eyes never left Negan. She never moved even when her eyes met Negan's. He stared at her for a moment. He looked away before saying something to Rick. He the lifted Lucille and pointed it directly at Josephine and her group. He then started towards them. Josephine heard footsteps rush down steps and stop beside her.

"Why don't we all just go inside? Come on, please!" Caitlyn said, grabbing onto Josey's arm. Josey looked away from Negan and looked to Caitlyn.

"Caitlyn, we're fine. Go inside with Daryl." But Caitlyn just shook her head. "Daryl!" Josephine called. Daryl stepped to Caitlyn, putting a hand on her shoulder, about to take her to the porch but someone ran over to them.

"Josey, Daryl." Josephine and the girls turned around to find Carl standing there. "We need you in the church. It's an emergency." Josephine and the girls were given a break day today. Carl ran off and Josephine, Daryl and Jackie ran after him. They ran into the church after Carl to see two guys arguing with each other. Father Gabriel was sitting off to the side, practically whispering for them to stop. Josephine stared at the two for a moment. She recognized one of them but couldn't tell from where. Daryl stepped forward, ready to break up the fight but Josephine grabbed his arm stopping him. She walked forward, pushing the two away from each other. The two were screaming, trying to get past Josephine.

"Hey! Hey!" She yelled, their attention going to her but their breathing heavy. "You, get the hell out, now!" She yelled at the man she didn't recognize, anger radiating off her. The unknown man spit at the other guys feet before walking through the crowd. "You two must've lost your damn minds!" She yelled, turning to the man she recognized. This man had black short hair. His eyes were black. He wore a black t-shirt and black jeans. "What the hell happened?!"

"I was minding my own damn business then this guy came up and punched me, out of fucking nowhere!" The guy yelled. Josephine tilted her head. That voice... The voice was familiar but she couldn't put her tongue on her. The guy at the door flipped him off. "Motherfucker!" Josephine's eyes widened. She remembered who he was.

The man's voice rang in her mind, ever since he kidnapped her group.


	6. Chapter 6: Somnum

The doors opened but Josephine's mind had erased all thoughts. The only thought in her mind was to attack him, murder him. She pulled her fist back as the man turned back to her. She punched him straight in the face. The kidnapper fell to the ground, rubbing his cheek. "Fucking asshole!" She proceeded to kick him in the stomach until he fell to the ground. Daryl and Jackie rushed over and pulled Josephine back. Jackie had never seen Josephine get so angry.

"Josey, what the hell," Jackie exclaimed. Josephine's eyes stayed on the kidnapper. The guy groaned, rolling onto his back before trying to get up.

"The hell is your problem?!" The man yelled at her but it only caused more pain for him to speak. He groaned, leaning his back against the wall.

_ "My problem_?" Josephine scoffed, shaking her arms out of her friend's hold. "_My problem?!" _She walked forward, standing in front of him. "You're telling me it was wrong of me to kick the crap out of one of the guys who _kidnapped me?!" _Josephine felt the anger surge through her and she resumed kicking the man on the ground. She proceeded to kick him until he was knocked unconscious. She stepped back, running a hand through her hair.

"Josey." Josephine turned around to see Rick approaching her with Negan behind him. Negan watched Josephine silently, noticing something in her eyes. Josephine didn't wait for Rick to scold her. She knew what she had done was wrong, even if the guy deserved it. She didn't need to do that. She could've dealt with that in a better way. She pushed her way in between Negan and Rick, rushing out of the church. Jackie rushed after her, with Daryl following close behind.

"Josey!"

"Damn Rick. It looks like you have got some major shit on your hands," Negan spoke. "You might want to go deal with that," he said as he brought Lucille over his shoulder. Rick looked to the man on the ground. Had the kidnappers really been living in their home the entire time they were here?

* * *

Josephine paced back in forth in her living room, rubbing her hand on her knuckles. She hadn't punched anybody in quite some time. She regretted what she did. It was unnecessary. The front door opened and Daryl and Jackie came inside. "Josey what happened?" Jackie asked.

"That was one of the guys who kidnapped us!"

"How do you even know?" Daryl asked.

"When we got kidnapped, I almost got away. I hit the guy and he said, 'Motherfucker'. I recognized his voice. That was one of them!" Josephine exclaimed but Jackie and Daryl just stared at her.

"Josey, you may just be overreacting." Jackie tried to convince her that it wasn't him but Josephine just kept shaking her head.

"No! Jackie! It was him!" She raised her voice at the two. Daryl walked forward. "Ugh, can't you like interrogate him or something? I know it's him!" Daryl glanced between the two girls. He nodded his head. Daryl left the house, leaving the girlfriends to talk. Josephine went upstairs to the room with Jackie following after her. She opened the door to reveal Clarissa, Caitlyn, Bethany and Skye sitting on the bed. "I think I may have found one of the kidnappers."

"What; where?" Clarissa asked.

"At the church, he had gotten into a fight with some guy. I recognized his voice from when I fought back." Josephine said, walking to the bed and sitting down at the head of the bed beside Caitlyn. The girls got comfortable on the bed.

"So what're we going to do?" Skye asked.

"I'm having Daryl interrogate him to see what he knows."

"What if he is one of the kidnappers?" Bethany asked.

"Then we use him to figure out why we're here and how we got here."

"And if they're not?" Clarissa and Caitlyn said in unison. The girls went silent and Josephine shook her head.

"He has to be. We have to figure out how to get back as soon as possible." That ended the girl's conversation and all the girls but Josephine and Jackie went downstairs to make some food. Josephine sat on the bed with Jackie.

"Josey, I know you want him to be one of the kidnappers but what all can he do about sending us back?" She asked.

"If he sent us here, he can bring us back." She said, running a hand through her hair. If Josephine was being honest with herself, she was beginning to doubt that the man was one of the kidnappers. It could've been just her overreacting and maybe he just had a similar voice. But at the same time she was trying to hope with all her might that he was her kidnapper. She needed to get home.

"Josey," Jackie said as she placed her hand over Josey's. But Josey quickly stood, losing her patience.

"No Jackie! He has to be the one! We have to go back home! God knows how long we've been missing! Our families are probably worried sick! We disappeared without a trace!" She exclaimed, running both hands through her hair. Jackie stood up from the bed in front of Josey, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Babe, we're going to figure this out. I understand how stressful this is but I need you to try and relax, just a bit. We're going to get through this; we are going to get home." Josephine sighed softly, taking a few deep breaths. "Alright, just try and remain calm until Daryl comes back from interrogating him, alright?" Josey nodded her head and looked her girlfriend in the eye, wrapping her arms around Jackie's neck.

"I wouldn't have been able to get through the last two weeks without you." Josephine said softly, placing a gentle kiss on Jackie's lips. Jackie returned the kiss with a peck, giving her a smile. Josephine pulled Jackie into a hug and they stayed there for a few minutes. Jackie broke the hug, sliding her hands into Josephine's.

"I'm going to go see if Negan's left and if the girls need help." Josephine nodded her head and Jackie slipped away, going downstairs. The door closed as Josephine sat down on the side of the bed, holding her head in her hands. This was a lot of stress on her. She was the leader of the group. She was given the job of getting them to safety, getting them back home. They looked to her for help and comfort. But not only did she have to help her girls but then she had to help Rick around Alexandria. It was a lot on her. Then there was Negan on top of it all. Josephine groaned angrily and stood up from the bed and began to pace back and forth.

She thought about what the group would do if he wasn't the kidnapper. If he wasn't, they were back to square one with no direction to go in. She couldn't let that happen, she needed to get them back home. It had been two weeks and for the most part, she had wrapped her head around the entire situation but at the same time, she was still in such disbelief that this could even happen.

However if he was the kidnapper, she had to do everything in her power to get the girls out of here. Even if it meant leaving Daryl, who she had gotten close to over the past two weeks, she had to get back to her family; just the thought of them worrying about her disappearance made her sick to the core. She ran her hand through her hair. She decided to go with Daryl to interrogate the kidnapper. She left her room, said bye to the girls and then left the house. She made her way to where they kept prisoners.

She wondered what Negan had said to Rick about this entire situation. She also wondered why he didn't talk to her, considering he watched her beat the hell out of a guy. She thought it would've piqued his interest. But she shook Negan out of her head and walked to Daryl. "Josey, I don't think you should be here." Rick said, approaching the two.

"I have to Rick," she told him, moving her hair out of her face.

"Joe, are you sure?" Daryl asked, making sure. Josephine had given Daryl permission to call her Joe but only in serious situations. He was the only one who called her Joe. She figured it made him feel special even though he would never say it aloud.

Josephine nodded her head. "I may have a way to get him to talk." Daryl and Rick glanced at each other before heading inside. They went straight to the kidnapper. When the guy laid his eyes on Josephine, he immediately crawled back on the floor into the corner of the room.

"Listen, I don't know what you think I did!" He went on and on about how he didn't do anything and he wasn't who she thought he was. She rolled her eyes as he continued. She walked to him and crouched down in front of him.

"I want you to listen to me and listen to me carefully," she spoke in a soft voice and calm voice. "I want you to think of it this way. If you are who I think you are and I get home on my own without you admitting it or helping me, I won't call the cops and have them hunt you down." The man, Rick and Daryl seemed confused for a minute. That was soon replaced with fear as she grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him closer. "_I will hunt you down myself. And when I find you, I will make sure you die a painful death as any; nice and fun for me, painful and slow for you." _She watched as the man began to shake. "_I will make sure; every bone in your body is broken. I will make sure when I'm done with you, you will be bathing in your own fucking blood." _She let go of his shirt and he dropped down back into the corner. "Now tell me what I need to know."

"Alright, alright," He said, holding up his hands. "I am the one who kidnapped you, me and my group." She stood up, taking two steps back.

"How did we get here?"

"We're a special group. What we do is passed on to other people. Like a tradition."

"Answer my question." She said through gritted teeth.

"There's a tea. It's called Somnum tea. It's Latin for sleep." Josephine nodded her head.

"So back in my world, we're all in like a coma?" He shook his head.

"No, you're all actually here. You fell through a portal, for Pete's sake!"

"Alright, why're we here?" The man gulped.

"I-I-I can't tell you that. That's for your group to figure out." She took a step forward and glared down at him. "Alright, fine!" He took a few deep breaths, obviously trying to calm down his racing heart. "You're the leader of your group?" Josephine glanced back at Daryl.

"I am." The man nodded.

"You're the cure."


	7. Chapter 7: Main Character

Josephine didn't believe at first what the man had said. We were right? She thought, shaking her head. "What? No. That can't be true." The man nodded his head.

"Yes, it's true. The original leader of the group, since even before you guys got here, you were always the cure."

"What do you mean by always the cure?" Rick asked, stepping forward. Josephine put the pieces together before he could tell them himself.

"You guys had been watching us for a while, haven't you?" She asked stepping forward. "That's what you meant when it gets passed on like a tradition. You pass it on to the people you kidnap?" He hesitated but nodded his head. Josephine took that hard, her mind racing with different thoughts. What was she supposed to do; being the cure and all; being the main character as she put it two weeks ago? She was too stressed already with just trying to figure out why they were here but now she's the cure? Then she remembered. If she was the cure, the main character, who is her tragic loss? "Wait so that means, if I get bit or scratched...?"

"Uhm, it will just disappear. But-"

"I can only get scratched or bit once, right?" He nodded his head. "You son-of-a bitch!" She walked forward, pulling her fist back and punching him a few times in the face. He covered his head with his arms, trying to block her punches. Daryl stepped forward, pulling Josephine away from him.

"Josey, go back to the girls and tell them," Rick told her, turning away from the kidnapper. "You," he said, turning back to him. "What's your name?"

"Parker," he said. Josephine glared daggers at him.

"Well Peter," Josephine said, "You better hope my girls take this well. Because if they don't you are a dead man." She warned, walking out of the cell with Daryl following her. Rick followed soon after asking whatever questions he needed to know such as, are the rest of the kidnappers living within the walls and etcetera. Which they weren't, it was just him. At least that's what he told them.

Daryl took Josephine back to the house who was fuming. She opened up the door and walked inside to find the girls sitting at the table with Negan sitting with them. Shit. She forgot he was still here. Why wasn't he with Rick? I'm surprised he left Negan's side. Negan looked up to the two of them as a smirk made its way onto his face. Josephine looked at the girls to see them terrified; all except Skye and Jackie. Jackie and Skye had a brave face on but Caitlyn was shaking and rocking back and forth. She was having a panic attack. Josephine rushed to Caitlyn who sat at the end of the table, across from Negan. She crouched beside her. "Caitlyn, Caitlyn breathe." But Caitlyn didn't respond. "Caitlyn, I need you to listen to my voice. Remember who you're with." Caitlyn's rocking slowed but her breathing was still rapid and heavy. Josephine looked back to Daryl. "Daryl, get me a piece of paper and a pencil or pen something to write with from the room!" Daryl hurried upstairs, leaving the girls with Negan.

"What's wrong with her?" Negan asked, standing up from the table. Josephine kept her hand on Caitlyn's shoulder but stood up to face Negan.

"Obviously she's having a panic attack. Get out." She demanded. Her demand surprised the girls and Negan. The only thing racing through Josephine's mind was getting Caitlyn to calm down and keeping the girls safe. She remembered the main character's tragic loss and she didn't need it to be Caitlyn, or any of them for that matter. Negan walked around the table, Lucille in his hand. Before he could respond, Daryl came back downstairs with the paper and pen, handing it to Josephine. Josephine crouched back down next to Caitlyn. "Here, write it down, whatever you're thinking. If you want to color the entire paper, write down anything, draw, whatever you want." Caitlyn's rocking had completely stopped and she took the paper and pen from Josephine. She put it on the table and began writing at a quick speed. Josephine stood, turning away from Caitlyn and back to Negan.

"You guys must be one tight little group." Josephine didn't move, standing in front of Caitlyn to block Negan from getting to her. She couldn't risk anything. "See now, I'm curious. What the hell was going on in that Church?" He asked, swinging Lucille over his shoulder. Josephine felt her anger come back up but she had to keep a level head.

"That doesn't matter. What do you want?" She asked, moving her hair out of her face.

"I want to know what was going on. You packed quite on a punch on that guy." Josephine looked to the ground for a moment before looking back to him.

"You really want to know, fine. My girls and I are from a different world. We were kidnapped from our home. We were dropped on our ass in the middle of nowhere two weeks ago. Rick helped us out. This guy shows up and turns out to be my kidnapper. You wanna know what he tells me? I'm the fucking cure, I'm immune." Josephine had just spilled everything. "Are you happy now that you know?" She asked, moving her hair behind her ear. Negan stayed silent for a moment, taking in what he just heard. Before he could say anything, one of her girls spoke up.

"What?" Josey turned to see Skye rising out of her seat. "He's here?" She asked.

"Was that the only thing you got from what I just said?' Josephine mumbled, running her hands through her hair. "Yes, yes he's here. His name is Parker and I may or may not have threatened to torture him very slowly and painfully till he was bathing in his own blood if he didn't tell me what I needed to know." Jackie was next to stand.

"You did what?!" She walked around to the table and stood beside Caitlyn who was still writing.

"It doesn't matter. We have shit on our hands and he," Josephine said, pointing to Negan. "Is not helping being here; get out." He studied Josephine for a minute, realizing something, before a smirk broke out on his face.

"You are adorable." He laughed. Before he could continue, a hand grabbed Josephine's arm. She turned around to see Caitlyn holding out the paper to her. She took the paper and read it over. All over the entire paper was written, over and over again_: It's gonna be me. It's gonna be me. _

Josephine looked back to Caitlyn. She sighed, putting the paper on the table. "Let's get some fresh air. Girls, come on." Caitlyn stood, quickly leaving the house. As Josephine left, she glared at Negan. The girls followed after her, Negan and Daryl following after them. The girls stood outside the house as Negan walked around in front of them.

"Josephine." Rick called from behind her. She turned around and left Caitlyn's side, going to Rick. "I asked Parker some more questions."

"What'd he say?"

"You're not going to like it." This worried Josephine.

"He knows who you're going to lose and when. It's today." That made Josephine's blood run cold.

"Who?" She asked. Before he could answer, a gunshot echoed through the community.


	8. Chapter 8: Tragic Loss

Josephine quickly turned around and ran back to the girls with Rick. She looked at her girls to see where the bullet went. Her eyes widened when she laid eyes on the blood running through Caitlyn's shirt. She had been shot in the stomach. "No, no, no, no, no..." Josephine grabbed Caitlyn before she could hit the floor. Each of the girl's heart broke to see their close friend bleeding out. Josey knelt down on the ground, gently placing Caitlyn on the ground in front of her. There were tears streaming down Caitlyn's face. "Hey, hey, look at me. Keep your eyes open, alright? I know this hurts but please." Josephine put pressure on the bullet wound but the pouring blood was stopping or slowing at all. "Rick, get something to stop the fucking bleeding!" She yelled at him but nobody moved. They all knew how this was going to end.

"I know you're upset," she heard Negan say as he took a step forward. "But if you're going to take your anger out on anybody, it should be her." Josephine knew he was just instigating but she still looked up to him. He was pointing his finger at one of the girls. Josephine followed where he was pointing to see him pointing at Skye. Skye's eyes had widened and she shook her head violently.

Josephine looked back down to Caitlyn and shook her head. "Caitlyn come on. You're going to pull through. Come on please." Caitlyn's sobs were quiet and broken as she used most of her strength to grab onto Josephine's hand.

"You t-told me... I-I'd be fi-fine." Josephine's heart broke into little pieces when Caitlyn spoke. The tears built up in Josephine's eyes, falling down her cheeks.

"You will be. Come on please!" But it was only a few more seconds that her sobs sounded. Caitlyn's hand fell off of Josephine's hand and onto the ground, her body now lifeless. Josephine sat and cried for a moment, hating how she had let down her group but Caitlyn the most. Nobody moved, nobody said anything. Josephine rose and wiped her cheek, smearing the blood across her face.

"Josey-" Jackie started to say as she took a step forward but Josephine stepped back. She stared at Caitlyn for another moment before quickly walking away from the entire scene. As she walked by Negan she pushed her arm against his. "Josey," Jackie called after her but didn't follow. Josephine walked right out of the gates with nothing. No weapon, no food. She was radiating with anger, she was broken and upset. She had just lost one of her own. She knew she would take it hard but not this hard. She walked down the road, her eyes staying on the ground as she walked. She was lost in her own thoughts, oblivious to what was going on around her.

Stray walkers began following her, slowly getting quicker as they got closer to her. She didn't realize it until one grabbed her. She reacted quickly, pushing it off her. She looked behind her to find at least 5 walkers following her. She couldn't kill any of them. She looked around for another tree branch. Luckily for her, there was one. She rushed off to the side, picking it up. She turned around, swinging it and bashing in a walkers head. She repeated this to the rest of the walkers that were around here. She waited as more came for her but she disposed of them quickly. She walked off the road and sat down at the trunk of a tree. She placed the branch beside her, taking in a few deep breaths. The same thing was going through her head, over and over again. She had let down her group, she had let down Caitlyn. She didn't know where Caitlyn was now. Was she just dead here or did she also die back at their world?

She didn't know what Negan meant by it was Skye's fault that Caitlyn was dead. She needed to find out. She stood from the ground and headed back to Alexandria. She looked up at the sky. It had to have been about 4 o'clock.

It didn't take her too long to get back to Alexandria. Outside the gate, Josephine tossed her branch off to the side, over by the house that was outside the walls of Alexandria. Negan was still here. She figured he would've left by now. As she walked down the roads, she looked outside the house that was Rick's. The group had dispersed and they were gone. So was Caitlyn's body. She got strange looks from the other residents. She had felt like she was reliving getting there for the first time. All those eyes on her made her uncomfortable considering she was probably covered in blood. She walked up the porch steps before going into the house. She looked over to the table to see the girls, Daryl, Rick and Negan all in the room. They all looked to her.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Jackie sighed in relief, getting up and rushing over to her. She went to hug her but Josephine stepped back, holding her hands up. She walked around of Jackie and went to the table. She stood across from Skye.

"_What... did you do?" _Skye looked between the girls and Josephine.

"What? I didn't do anything."

"Skye," Josephine said in a warning voice, trying to stay as calm as she could. "What the fuck did you say to him?" She said, pointing at Negan. No one said anything. Then Bethany spoke up.

"She started ranting at him and along the way she told him to just kill someone already because she knew he was going to do it, and then proceeded to insult him." Josephine looked to Skye slowly.

"_You did what?" _Skye sighed.

"Look I'm sorry! I didn't expect him to-"

"What you didn't expect him to just whip out a gun and shoot someone? Skye, are you fucking kidding me? Look at him for fucks sake! He carries a fucking bat and bashes people's heads in. Have you lost your fucking mind?" Josephine screamed at her. She left everyone speechless. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down but it wasn't working too well. "Next time," She said, looking back to Skye. "Keep your mouth closed." She stepped back turning to Negan. He was about to say something but she held up her hand, stopping him.

"Your shit has been by the gate since you got here. Take your shit and leave." That was the last thing she said before turning around and leaving the room, going upstairs. Josephine had wanted to jump Skye on sight. But she couldn't do that. She had already lost Caitlyn; she didn't need to lose another. She went upstairs to the shower. She needed to bathe before the sun went down. She closed the door behind her, locking it. Today was a hectic day. Today was the day she suffered a tragic loss. And holy hell did it break her heart into pieces.


	9. Chapter 9: Josephine 'Joe' Johnson

After Josephine had taken her shower she had gone into the room the girls shared. Negan had left, taking the stuff they gathered with him. Rick and Jackie had buried Caitlyn in the back. Josephine stayed on the bed staring at nothing in particular. A couple of hours later the rest of the girls came upstairs. They all sat on the bed, sitting in silence. "This is what's going to happen," Josephine spoke, looking up at the girls. "We don't speak of this loss, _ever_." The girls each nodded their head. "Skye," she said, her eyes locking with Skye's. "You better hope that when we get back home, she is still alive." Skye gulped as guilt and sorrow filled her eyes. It had gotten dark outside and the only thing the girls wanted to do was going to sleep. All of the girls laid down except for Josey. Josephine left the room, sitting down on the steps. As if it were happening all over again, footsteps approached her. "What am I supposed to do Daryl?" Daryl sat down beside her on the steps. She stared straight ahead, at nothing. "I've let the girls down; I've let Caitlyn down the most. I'm supposed to save everybody while dealing with whatever happens with my girls and then there's Negan. Not to mention I have to go back and talk to Parker to find out the rest of the story, find out how I'm supposed to make this cure." She took in a deep breath, moving her hair out of her face. "I'm not okay Daryl..." She whispered softly, knowing the tears were going to start falling shortly.

And sure enough they did. She sniffled, wiping her cheek clean. "Come here," was all he said, pulling her into a gentle hug. Josephine flinched at the touch but didn't move. She felt safe. He rubbed her arm gently. She stayed there for a moment before sitting up, pushing her hair back. "You didn't let them down." He told her. "You did everything you could, you tried your best."

"Yeah but it wasn't enough!" She exclaimed, shaking her head.

"What happened, it ain't on you." She sniffled. "Joe." She turned to him. "We gon figure this out," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

She gave a smile but it was weak and broken. They stayed there for a little while, talking a little more. Josephine was glad she had someone who wasn't one of the girls to talk to. It was different, new. It felt nice.

But the two weren't aware that one of the girls was watching them the entire time at the top of the staircase. They soon left, going back into the room. Josephine knew she had been sitting there for a while when she yawned. Daryl told her to head off to bed. She stood up and ruffled Daryl's hair around. She walked upstairs back into the room. She closed the door quietly behind her and went off to the other side of the bed and laid down on the floor. She turned on her side, her back to the girls and closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The next day, all the girls woke up before Josephine. Josephine never really slept the night. With the sleep that she did get she just had nightmares. Either way she knew she had to get up so she did. She got up, straightened out her hair with her fingers and left the room, her gun in the back of her pants. She went downstairs to find the girls eating at the table with Rick, Daryl, surprisingly Carol, Michonne and Morgan.

"Morning," Rick told her.

"Morning," She replied, going over to them.

"So," Jackie said, keeping her eyes on her food. "Parker's gone." Josephine looked from her to Rick.

"What?"

"He must've had someone else in the community to get him out. We're going to be searching everyone's house today." Rick said. She nodded her head.

"You hungry?" Daryl asked, holding a can of mixed fruit. She turned her head to him, shaking her head.

"No, I'm alright."

"You should eat. Gonna need the strength." Rick told her. She sighed and took the can from Daryl. She mumbled 'thanks' and began eating. Jackie stood up, leaving her can on the table, and stormed off, heading upstairs. Josephine glanced back at her.

"What's up with her?" She asked, taking another spoonful of food. The girl's shrugged.

"She's been like that since she got up." Bethany said. Josephine finished her fruit, drinking the last bit of juice before tossing the can in the garbage.

"I'll talk to her. Let me know when we're heading out. I'll help with the search," was all she said before heading upstairs. She went up into the room to see Jackie lying across the bed. She closed the door behind her. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jackie told her, starring up at the ceiling. "Go on with the search. Let me grieve in peace."

"Babe we're supposed to talk to each other. Let me help you." Josephine tried to say, stepping toward her.

"Oh now you want to talk to me?" Jackie exclaimed, sitting up. "Tell me, _Joe, _you want me to talk to you about my problems but you can't come to me when you feel like you've let everybody down? When you're stressed to your limit? I don't think so. You want to talk to someone, talk to Daryl." Jackie finished and then laid back down on the bed. Josephine sighed. So that is what her attitude was about.

"Jackie you know it's not like that."

"Do I?" She asked, turning to Josephine. "You've told him more in the past two weeks than you've told me in the past month." She said, sitting up again, moving her hair out of her face. She got off the bed and stood in front of Josephine.

"Listen Jackie, you know that I want to talk to you. I love talking with you but I just..." Josephine sighed. "It felt nice talking with someone who wasn't someone I would talk to or see every day before this started." Jackie looked to the ground.

"Do you like him?" Jackie asked, looking back up to Josephine. Josephine sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Jackie you know damn well that I don't. Why are you trying to create this drama?"

"Because I miss you!" She exclaimed, silencing Josephine. "You're always running off on runs with Michonne and Daryl. You're the only one trying your best, going past your limit to figure out a way to get us out of here. You're never around us as much except when we're going to sleep. You eat out on the porch with Daryl and Rick half of the time. Now you're going off again to search everyone's houses which could take all fragging day!" Jackie sighed.

"Babe you could've just said something. The only reason I leave you all in the house is to keep you all safe." Josephine said, grabbing hold of Jackie's hands. "Skye's big mouth cost us one of us. I'm not going to lose more, especially not you."

"Josey let's go!" Daryl's voice rang from downstairs. Josephine sighed.

"Stay inside, don't go outside unless it's with one of the others. Not with any of the girls, it has to be the others." She nodded her head. "I'll see you tonight." With that being said Josephine left the room.


	10. Chapter 10: The Kriegers

Josephine, Daryl, Rick, Aaron, Michonne and Morgan had been searching houses all day. Parker and his helper were nowhere to be found. They figured the helper was the man that Parker got into a fight with since he was nowhere to be found either. It was now dark and the six of them had finished searching houses. They were on their way back home when Josephine sighed.

"We've checked every house. We have people station at all parts of the walls. There's no way they could've gotten out. They're here somewhere." She put her hands in her back pockets.

"There's nowhere else for them to be. We've searched every single house." Rick said, walking beside her. That's when she stopped.

"Not every single house." The group looked between each other before running off towards the houses. "Morgan, Aaron and Michonne check the second house. Rick and Daryl, you're with me." Josephine called out. Morgan, Aaron, and Michonne ran off into the second house while Rick and Daryl followed Josephine into their house. Josephine tried the door to find it opened easily, as if it were never locked. "The girls should've locked the door when the sun went down." She crouched down beside the door.

"What're you doing Josey?" Rick asked.

"Checking for tampering," She replied. There was nothing wrong. "No sign of tampering." She stood up, taking her gun. She walked inside.

"Check the rooms first," Rick told the two. The three of them went upstairs. They checked the rooms quietly. All rooms were empty except Carol's, Carl's and the girls. Josephine opened up the girl's door and looked around. Each girl startled awake.

"Josephine what the hell are you doing?" Bethany asked, rubbing her eye.

"Parker and his helper might be in the house. I need you all to stay quiet, quiet as you can possibly be. Do not leave this room no matter what you hear." The girls nodded their heads." Lock the door. Only open it if it's me, Daryl or Rick." She left the room and Clarissa got up, locking the door behind her. The three of them went downstairs, looking around the kitchen, living room while Rick checked Judith's room. There was nothing. "Maybe he's in the other house," Josephine suggested. Just as she lowered her weapon as Michonne, Aaron and Morgan walked in.

"Empty." Michonne told them.

"Where could they be?" Josephine asked, holding her gun to her side.

"Right here." Michonne's group turned around and everyone held their guns up. Standing at the bottom of the steps was Parker with the man he had gotten into a fight with; except he was holding Jackie, with a gun to her head. "Now unless you want to lose another one I'm going to need you." He said, pointing the gun at Josephine. Josephine looked between the groups.

"Like hell." Daryl responded. Rick and Daryl stepped in front of Josephine.

"I'll do it." Josephine said, lowering her gun and walking around the two. She stepped past Daryl a step but Daryl grabbed her arm. "Daryl I can handle myself. I can't even risk losing anyone else; especially not her." Daryl glanced up at the two men.

"They try anything-"

"I know; I'll call." He let go of her arm and she headed towards the men.

"No weapons." The new guy told her. Josephine put her gun on the floor and kicked it over to the stairs. Parker picked it up, keeping his gun train on Jackie.

"I go, she comes with them." Parker shook his head.

"No. She is our get out of jail free card." Parker told her. Josephine glanced back at Daryl and Rick but nodded. The men stepped down from the steps and let Jackie and Josephine go on ahead of them. Parker kept the gun aimed on the girls while the new guy picked up Josephine's gun from the floor, watching their back as they went upstairs. They went into one of the empty bedrooms. "Sit on the bed." Parker said. The girls sat on the bed. As they did so, Josephine asked

"What's your goal here Parker?" She turned to the new guy. "Who the hell is he?"

"This here is Julian. He's Clarissa's kidnapper." Josephine stood up, ready to attack but Parker aimed the gun, taking it off safety. "I wouldn't if I were you." Jackie gently grabbed hold on Josephine's hand. She sat back down on the bed. "We're only here to tell you part of what you have to do. Taking her was our get out of jail free card."

"You're going to help us? Why?"

"Because you guys are taking too long," Julian told them. "You guys have been missing for..._ a while _back at our world."

"How long is a while?" Josephine asked.

"Long enough," Parker answered. "Alright, first of all, our name, our group name is The Kriegers. It's German for Warriors."

"You guys love your different languages..." Josephine mumbled, running a hand through her hair. "Just tell me what I need to know. Am I going to lose anyone else?" Parker and Julian glanced at each other.

"Unfortunately, yes." Josephine looked down to the ground, taking in a shaky breath. "I know you're going to ask so let met answer now: I can't tell you who, when, how or where. And I can't tell you if they're still alive back at our world." Josephine looked to Jackie who took her hand. "Now I can tell you that you need to find someone named Marcus, Marcus West." She nodded her head. "He'll know what to do. He'll know how to help you. Any other problem along the way, you're own your own."

"And if I need to know something from you?" Josephine asked, standing up.

"If we can help you," Julian said, "We'll find you." Josephine nodded her head. "Come here Jackie. We need to go."

"No!" Josephine said, holding her hand in front of Jackie. "You guys can just go." Julian and Parker looked between each other. "But I need my gun back."

"Not until we're outside." Julian said, keeping the gun in his hand.

"Fine, get moving. Jackie go back to the girls." The four left the room and Jackie went up to the girls' room. Josephine walked in front of the two men. She got to the front door and faced the others. Their guns were immediately trained on the two guys. "Don't shoot. We're letting them go." Josephine said and her upsetment was obvious in her voice.

"Not a chance." Rick said, walking forward.

"They won't attack us. They only escaped to give us some information." Josephine said. "We can let them go." They lowered their weapons slightly as Josephine let them out. Julian handed Josephine her gun.

"Don't worry. You'll make it out." The two turned to walk away but Josephine grabbed Parker's arm.

"Just how many am I going to lose..?" She asked, giving him a serious look. Parker sighed softly.

"Enough to break you," he answered. Josephine felt her heart break a little more as the two walked away. She closed the door and the girls came downstairs. She didn't even get mad at them for leaving the room. She was too preoccupied with her thinking.

"What'd he tell you?" Skye asked. Jackie and Josephine glanced up at each other before Josephine looked away, looking towards Rick and the others. She looked back to Skye.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Go back up and get some sleep." She told the girls. Jackie gave Josephine a hug before they went back upstairs.

"What'd he really tell you?" Daryl asked. Josephine took in a shaky deep breath, trying not to break down into tears.

"I'm probably going to lose all of my girls." She ran a hand through her hair. She took in a less shaky deep breath, letting it out. "But we need to find a guy, someone by the name of Marcus West. Until then, we don't do anything."

"We need to go searching again, tomorrow." Rick told the group. "Negan is going to show up sooner or later and we don't have anything." Josephine nodded her head. "For now, everyone get some rest." Michonne, Morgan, and Rick all went upstairs. As Rick passed Josephine, he patted her shoulder as reassurance but it did nothing. He headed upstairs with the rest of them. Josephine was left downstairs with Daryl. He stepped towards her and she locked eyes with him. She looked down to the ground. Her hands began to shake and before she knew it the first sob fell out. Daryl didn't say anything but just pulled her into a hug. Josephine knew Jackie would probably get upset about this but she didn't particularly care. She slid down the staircase railings and Daryl sat beside her.

"I can't do this anymore Daryl." She said as her voice cracked. Daryl kept an arm around her and said,

"We been goin' at this for a while now. We're still here; you will get them through it."


	11. Chapter 11: Are You Okay?

Josephine spent the next few days making sure she spent time with the girls and let them know everything that was going on. She made sure to leave out the part that they're all probably going to die but she filled them in on everything else. She went out on a few more runs with Daryl and Michonne and Rick. She found a really big score when she was with Michonne. They had gone decently far and it took them about 3 days' time to get there and back but it was worth it. They gathered enough for Negan and still had some left over for the community. They were so low on food; half of the community wasn't really eating. Daryl and Morgan had to go hunting at times to get deer for people to eat but they couldn't live like that. With their luck, Negan was going to be back soon and god knows what he might do.

It was getting dark and everybody was settling into bed. Josephine and Daryl's talks on the steps had become a regular thing. Either when nobody was in the house other than Carl and Judith or when everybody was asleep. She knew it still upset Jackie but Jackie was adjusting to it. As much as she wanted Josephine to come to her when she needed to talk to someone, she knew that it did feel nice talking to someone else. She was actually beginning to form a bigger friendship with Carl.

Bethany and Skye stuck together most of the time. Bethany never really went outside of the walls. If she did it was just to go for a walk and even then, she didn't go far at all. She was terrified of being outside. Especially with what happened to Caitlyn, she never wanted to be outside when Negan was here. But at the same time, she wanted to be with the girls. She worried about them, she didn't want something to happen and she wasn't there to do anything. Skye was trying to earn back Josephine's full friendship and trust. Josephine still cared for Skye, she cared for all of them but she was still so pissed for what happened to Caitlyn. Skye explained her reasoning for why she said it.

Skye had never liked Negan. Not even as a character in a t.v show. She always hated his smug smirk, the way it was so easy for him to kill whoever whenever. She never understood why he did what he did. She hated the fact that he had more than one wife and just his overall personality. She hated him. Now when she screamed at him she didn't expect him to kill someone, especially not Caitlyn. She figured he would've just made some smart remark to her. She did admit part of her thought he would kill someone but she never expected it to be Caitlyn, or even if he did kill someone, why Caitlyn of all the people? Josephine still didn't really understand what was going on in her head, what she was thinking even speaking out like that. Skye did promise to her, the rest of the girls, and even to Rick not to speak out like that ever again, to not even speak to Negan unless she was spoken to.

As for Clarissa, she wasn't really around the girls as much. No one ever noticed when she had disappeared. She had gone outside by herself many times ever since Josephine became one of Rick's right hand people. All anyone ever knew was that she was there in the morning and she was there at night. At first Clarissa thought it was just because they each had their own thing to worry about but then she noticed that no one really spoke to her unless they needed something from her, when they need one of her crazy but logical theories. After a bit of thinking while sitting on a tree branch outside, she had come to the conclusion that that was all she was to the girls, the person with the crazy theories and conspiracy ideas. Even though half of the time she was right, and she made some points, the girls never really paid any attention to her or her theories unless they affected them.

In the time that they were staying with the group, Clarissa never really got close to anyone else. Sure there was Daryl occasionally when the girls were actually all together, he would talk to her at times but nothing like how he talks to Rick or Josephine. But other than that, she was all by herself. Not once had anyone asked if she was alright. Not when they were dropped on their ass in the middle of the apocalypse, not when they figured out that someone was going to die, not even when Caitlyn had passed. No one, not once, had asked her. But she had gotten over it, or at least that's what she told herself. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it and stress out Josephine even more. As it is Josephine's dealing with figuring out how to find this guy Marcus, then Negan, and feeding the community and then Jackie's complaining on top of it. The rest of the girls have time to relax and they don't really do much. But Josephine, she only stays in one spot when she's sleeping. Even then she was up most of the night. Only reason Clarissa knew that is because so was she. She hadn't been getting much sleep ever since Caitlyn passed. She had started to get used to it when they first arrived but then everything changed. She wasn't eating as much and she wasn't sleeping as much.

Currently Josephine, the girls except Clarissa, Rick, Daryl, and Carl are all in the house trying to figure out possible ways where Marcus could be or even when they'll find him. It could months from now or it could be tomorrow. They didn't know. While the rest of the group continued to talk, Daryl had noticed that Clarissa wasn't there. He would've asked her since she was the person to go to for ideas or theories but she wasn't there. "Where's Clarissa?" Daryl asked. The group looked between each other.

"She was here at breakfast. Maybe she went back upstairs to get some rest." Bethany suggested. Josephine stood up, ready to go upstairs but Daryl stopped her.

"Nah leave her, if she getting more rest, it's for a reason." Josephine gave a nod of her head and sat back down. The group talked some more about how to find Marcus or any ideas of whom he even was. They had suggested everything but none of it made sense. They needed Clarissa. Only moments later Clarissa walked into the house. The group turned to her, surprised she was outside instead of upstairs. She had blood on her shirt and hands.

"Clarissa where were you?" Josephine asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I uh, went out for a walk." Clarissa answered calmly.

"By yourself?" Skye asked.

"Yeah, I've been doing it since we got here." She said. "You guys never saw me leave the house, not once?" She asked. The group fell silent, looking between each other. Clarissa pursed her lips and nodded her head. She was about to head upstairs when Josephine called for her.

"Hey, Clarissa?" Clarissa stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "What're your thoughts about this Marcus guy?" Clarissa shrugged her shoulders lightly.

"He probably works with the kidnappers." With that being said, she turned around, leaving the room.


	12. Chapter 12: Speak Out

After Clarissa dropped that thought bomb on them, she went upstairs. The rest of the group pondered on what she said. However Daryl was a bit more concerned about Clarissa rather than what she said. He knew Josephine was a bit too preoccupied with Marcus and helping the community. As for all the other girls, well, they were concerned about each other but their main focus was on Josephine. Daryl had thought about going up to talk to Clarissa but it would probably have just been an awkward conversation. He didn't really know Clarissa like he knew Josephine. He didn't know how he did it with Josephine. He guessed she was easy to talk to. But then he came up with an idea.

Josephine, Daryl, and Rick were getting ready to go on a run with Michonne, Tara, and Rosita when Clarissa came downstairs to get some water. "Clarissa's gonna come with us." Daryl announced. Rick and Josephine looked up to him and then Clarissa. Clarissa was confused but she wasn't saying no. But Josephine shook her head.

"No. I don't want any of my girls out there."

"Okay well, first of all," Clarissa said, grabbing a bottle of water. "Stop calling us your girls. We're not your children. We can look after ourselves. Second of all," Clarissa then looked up to Daryl. "I'd love to go." Daryl nodded his head but Josephine shook her head again.

"Alright fine, I don't want any of my friends out there. I know you guys can handle yourself but it is way too risky."

"And it's not risky for you?" Clarissa asked, taking a sip of the water.

"I will be alright. I know how to handle a gun and I'll be fine if I get scratched or bit." Even though Josephine knew she was risking it, going out at all, she still knew she had to go.

"Yeah but that's a one-time thing." Clarissa reasoned. "And what happens next if you get eaten alive by a pack of walkers?" Josephine cringed at the thought, knowing that Clarissa had a point. "Exactly: the more, the merrier." She took another sip of the water. "And for the record, no thanks to any of you, I know my way around a gun." She left the bottle of water on the table and headed out of the house. Once the door closed, the three stood together.

"Why the hell did you invite her?" Josephine asked, turning to Daryl. Daryl stayed silent for a second.

"What she said: the more, the merrier." With that being said, Daryl left the house, his crossbow over his shoulder. Josephine sighed and Rick stepped toward her.

"Don't stress it. If Clarissa says she can handle herself, she can. You girls seem to mean what you say." He patted her shoulder lightly in a reassuring way but Josephine didn't feel reassured. She really didn't want any of her girls- no, her friends to go outside because she didn't want to risk losing someone else. She followed Rick out of the house and to the trailer to head out. She was concerned with going out with Clarissa. She knew the other girls wouldn't agree with taking Clarissa out but Clarissa was right, it was her choice.

She entered the trailer last out of everyone. Josephine thought Michonne would be sitting up front with Rick but instead Rick told her to sit up front. Josephine complied and sat down and Rick took off. The ride was somewhat quiet. Josephine kept glancing into the back of the trailer to Clarissa. She was sitting beside Daryl but just stared out the window. Josephine turned to Rick,

"I'm going to go talk to Clarissa." She said, standing up and carefully making her way to the back. She tapped Daryl's shoulder and told him to move. She ruffled his hair around as he stood up and moved to the other side of the trailer. She sat down beside Clarissa. She was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"What for?" Clarissa asked, not bothering to look at Josey.

"Well for one you were right. And two, I'm sorry that no one took the time or even bothered to pay attention to what you were doing."

"That's probably not the best way to put it but," Clarissa turned to Josephine. "Thanks." That was all Clarissa said before turning back to the window. Josephine nodded her head and turned away, her eyes meeting Daryl. She gave him a frown before standing and going back to Rick. She sat back down at the front.

"She's probably pissed at me." Josephine sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"You're doing what you need to do. You're the leader. You do what you think is best for them." Rick told her. Josephine nodded her head, going into her thoughts. She didn't mean for her girls to get upset. Rick was right; she was trying to do what's best for her group. She was leader and she needed to keep them safe. Keeping them inside of the house seemed like the best choice and option at the time but now she had doubts. Were the girls really upset or was it just Clarissa? "Don't stress it." Josephine broke out of her thoughts and turned to Rick.

"How can I not? For all I know, the rest of the girls feel the same way Clarissa does." Rick shook their head.

"Jackie and Skye would've come straight out and said it. You would've noticed it in Bethany." Josephine agreed to that.

"But with Clarissa for some reason it's different. You see her around but you never notice her until she speaks out with one of her ideas. To see her disagree or see her upset, it-it messes with you." Rick gave a nod of his head but nothing more. After another minute he said,

"You worry most about Jackie because she's your girlfriend. Then there's Bethany because she's like Caitlyn, she's not the stronger ones. Then Skye who it's obvious you don't trust much. Lastly Clarissa, if it messes with you when she's upset, don't let her get upset." She took in what he said. He had a major point.

She stayed quiet for the rest of the drive. It was a bit of a long drive to the next town. The one town that they did find it was small and had already been raided. Josephine had watched Clarissa when she killed two walkers with a knife. She handled herself well. It was like she was used to it now. Josephine felt like it was so out of place to see her like this. Normally she sticks in the back, spouting her nonsense about her theories. Most of the time they made no sense to Josey, but now, Josephine was missing her nonsense.

The group drove to the next town over and by then it was getting dark. They found a house in the center of the town and Rick and Josephine cleared it out. They parked the trailer in the backyard and the group settled in into the house. They had a tiny dinner by a small fire in the fireplace. No one said much. Rick talked over the plan that was going to go into action in the morning but that was all. Afterwards, the group all went to sleep; other than Daryl and Josephine. They stayed up half of the night and talked as quietly as they could. Daryl told her to go to sleep after about an hour or so of talking. She fell asleep, her head resting on his leg.

Daryl didn't mind it. He was comfortable with Josephine. It was a new friendship. He liked her, a lot, but no more as a friend. She was an easy person to talk to and it was nice having a new face around. It was a story he hadn't heard before. He worried about her when she went out hunting with him. He was scared that she would get hurt, get kidnapped, anything. He sighed to himself. He wandered off to sleep at some point but Josephine woke him. She wanted to switch. She would take watch. They argued a bit but she won in the end. Daryl went off to sleep and Josephine kept watch for the rest of the morning.

When it was decently light outside, enough so that they could make their way around, Josephine woke up the others. Everyone got up fairly quickly. They packed up their bags and left the house, carefully making their way out the house. They broke off into two groups: Tara, Josephine and Daryl in one group and Rosita, Michonne, Rick and Clarissa in another. As much as Josephine wanted Clarissa to be with her, Rick said otherwise. The two groups broke off, Tara carrying the bag for their group. One went one way down back the way they came to search the houses and the other went further in.

Josephine felt a bit weird being in a group with Tara. She was a good friend but they never really spoke that often. Tara knew the girls' situation but never really spoke about it. They moved quickly and quietly, killing their own walkers. They didn't find too much. The bag was filled but it wasn't enough. As they headed off to the center, they could see the other group coming towards them too, their bag on Clarissa's shoulder. But Daryl suddenly stopped. Tara and Josephine stopped too.

"Daryl what is it?" Josephine asked but he shushed them. Josephine listened closely. She could hear lots of moans and groans from walkers, getting louder and louder. But Daryl heard something else. Coming down the street in the distance was a car, speeding towards them.

"Shit! Run!" Daryl took off with Josephine behind him and Tara in the back. But the two groups got cuff off from each other by a big group of walkers. Daryl made it across in time but Josephine and Tara got cut off. Josephine stepped back to Tara who stood in front of the unknown cargo van that pulled up behind them. The car doors opened and two men sat in front of the door, Dwight and someone Josey recognized as David. The both pulled out a gun and began shooting down the walkers. Josephine Tara pulled their guns out and began shooting too. In no time, the walkers were all dead. Josephine didn't get a chance to turn to Dwight when he grabbed her arm and pressed a gun against her head.

"Sorry but we're going to borrow her." Dwight and David pulled Josephine up into the car but Josephine tried to break away.

"Fuck off!" She elbowed David in the face and tried to attack Dwight but David recovered quickly and grabbed her into a choke hold and put a gun and her side. She stopped fighting immediately.

"We'll see you around Rick." With that being said, Dwight closed the car doors, the car driving off. The group stood there with one thought running through their heads. _What the hell just happened?_


End file.
